Yakub put to gallows… What about others in line?

The moment I got the news about Yakub Memon’s Death Penalty and rejection of “mercy” petitions, I remembered the execution of Afzal Guru. Like Afzal Guru, I was not aware about Yakub Memon too (before the execution). I thought of researching on his life and present my views on this issue too. To be very clear even I am among those who has criticized the Death Penalty given to Yakub Memon. Those eminent personalities who criticized the judgment includes Research and Analysis Wing officer B. Raman, former Supreme Court judge Justice H. S. Bedi, former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, Hussain Zaidi, Ram Jethmalani, Asaduddin Owaisi, R. Jagannathan, and many more… who asked for implementation of the Srikrishna Commission report.

“About 300 prominent citizens, including at least eight retired judges of the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court, have urged India's president to commute Memon's sentence to life in prison, reflecting what appears to be growing uneasiness in India with the death penalty.” In his book “Turning Point: A Journey through Challenges” Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam wrote "one of the more difficult tasks for me as President was to decide on the issue of confirming capital punishment awarded by courts ... to my surprise ... almost all cases which were pending had a social and economic bias… This gave me an impression that we were punishing the person who was least involved in the enmity and who did not have a direct motive for committing the crime," It is clear that the cases of death penalty are facing “social and economic” bias. After hanging Dhananjoy Chatterjee on 14th August 2004, in the span of almost eleven years, three convicts are put to death – all were Muslims. Apart from putting Ajmal Kasab into gallows, the decisions of both Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon were questioned, with due respect to the Supreme Court. Yakub was a qualified Charted Accountant and in 1992 he won an award for the best chartered accountant in the Memon community. When he was linked in the ‘1993 Bombay bombings’ with his brother (and family), he left India. He was suspected because he was the one who handled the accounts of his brothers. He returned India in hope that he may get light sentence and surrendered to Indian authorities. He returned back carefully collecting the information, which included photos and audio clips, required for Indian authorities about Tiger Memon, Jaliawala and Dawood Ibrahim. This information helped India to confirm about the presence of D-Gang in Pakistan. [For more info read: The Yakub Memon Story – The Man who helped India expose Pakistan role in 1993 Bombay Blasts ] The Director of CBI, K Vijay Rama Rao, said that the “Memons had surrendered because they had had no other option.” If it is true, why Tiger, Jaliawala and Dawood have not yet surrendered? Justice Srikrishna Report: J. Srikrishna Report says, the series of blasts were the reaction of the events happened in Ayodhya and December 1992 & January 1993 Bombings. "From 8th January 1993 at least there is no doubt that the Shiv Sena and Shiv Sainiks took the lead in organising attacks on Muslims and their properties under the guidance of several leaders of the Shiv Sena from the level of Shakha Pramukh to the Shiv Sena Pramukh Bal Thackeray who, like a veteran General, commanded his loyal Shiv Sainiks to retaliate by organised attacks against Muslims.” J. S. Report says. The riots happened because of the “statements and acts and writings and directives issued by the Shiv Sena Pramukh Bal Thackeray.” According the Report “Tiger Memon and his family had suffered extensively during the riots” Justice: Justice will be done to the Indian society if the culprits of “Babri Masjid Demolition” and “Bombay riots 1992-93” are booked and punished as enthusiastically as the Death Penalty given to Yakub Mamon. Those were the events that led the series of Bombay bombings to happen. Justice Srikrishna commission report should be implemented and the culprits should be booked and punished without mercy, if the judiciary really wants to do justice.s Those who convicted and are in death row should also be sent into the gallows as earnestly as it is done in case of Yakub Memon

Famous journalist Rahul Kanwal of India Today writes, “On Friday, Arun Jaitley told India Today in an interview that the government does not decide who is to be punished on the basis of their religion. But the reality is that Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, Balwant Singh Rajaona and Rajiv Gandhi's assassins have been able to escape the noose because of the backing of political parties in their states.” He further writes “Arun Jaitley says that rioters will also be made to face the gallows, just like terrorists. But the fact is that successive governments in Maharashtra made no attempt to implement the findings of the Justice Srikrishna report on the Mumbai riots in which 900 people were killed.”

Let’s see how the existing government makes attempts to put into gallows for those who instigated the riots and were responsible for killing of 900 innocents. The convict who was responsible for killing 257 innocents is punished and the culprits who were responsible for killing 900 innocents are free – living normal life

Supreme Court should not allow political influence to dominate when it comes to justice. If criminals are escaping the real punishment and innocents are getting harsher punishments, then there will be no hope on judiciary of India. My response to the comments against “those who supported Yakub Memon’s mercy plea”: “All those who asked for mercy to be shown towards Memon should be tried for being enemies of the country… These people had not lost anyone in the Mumbai attacks and were thus pleading for leniency.” – Shiv Sena.

What about those who were responsible for instigating 1992-93 riots? It was a “cause and effect” according to J. Srikrishna report. Should they be given Bharat Ratna? Why Shiv Sena is silent on this issue? “He Who Seeks Equity Must Do Equity” – Legal Maxim.

This happens because of lack of knowledge. ‘Getting knowledge before speaking’ is the “first commandment” every politician should remember. The argument given by Roy while speaking to Indian Express displayed the lack of knowledge about Islamic rulings and Muslim culture about funerals. I don’t go into the details here

Regarding “potential terrorists”, only one sentence “Keep your mouth shut!!!” We are more loyal to this country than you are. Period.

How come the governor of Tripura interfering in the matters of ‘Intelligence Bureau’? May be he needs to resign from the post and join IB to utilize his skills effectively.

The person who was responsible for the killing of 257 innocents is put to gallows and those who are responsible for the killing of 900 innocents are free – living normal life. Are they not “Potential Terrorists”!!!

Iftikhar Islam is the Founder-Editor of Passionate Writers and GPRF (a non-profit org. in Belgaum), incredible author best known for collaborating management strategies with Islamic knowledge for an all-round Islamic development as required in the 21st century. He holds a Post Graduate Degree in Business Management from prestigious IIPM School of Business & Economy; and an ardent of Islam, Comparative Religions, Media and Law. | Know More |